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| Islam needs a Martin Luther |
Several observations can be made
following the latest Paris terrorist attack. a
a) There is a struggle going on
for power in the Islamic community between three major radical
groups, including: Al-Qaeda
, ISIS, Boco Haram, and these terrorist attacks are now mainly “side
shows” by these different factions to demonstrate the capabilities
of their organizations around the world. In essence all these
factions want to turn back the clock to feudal times where there was
Sharia law, women had no rights what-so-ever, and corporal
punishment, including beheadings, was the rule of the day
b) Muslims living in Western
Communities at large, of which more than 80% have never read the
Qur'an, are getting more and more frustrated being labeled Muslim and
associated with terrorism, consequently they are leaving the Islam
religion in droves.
More and more intellectual and Western
educated Muslims are calling for a Muslim version of Martin Luther,
whose 16th-century movement in Christianity, known as the Protestant
Reformation rejected several teachings and practices of the Catholic
Church, which were very similar to present day Muslim Sharia laws.
The Catholic doctrine at that time also
called for nations to be Catholic theocracies.
Martin Luther in his writings denounced
that the Pope was in fact the de-facto representative of God on earth
and also noted that celabacy requirements for priests and nuns were
unnatural and even married a nun, Katharina von Bora on June 13, 1525
His refusal to retract all of his
writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman
Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his
excommunication and condemnation as an an outlaw by the Roman Emperor
who put a price on his life – dead or alive.
An interesting side-note about Martin
Luther's life is that during the wars between the Ottoman Empire and
(Habsburg) later the Austrian Empire Martin Luther was actively
urging Emperor Charles V and the German people to fight a secular war
against the Turks at the battle of Vienna in 1529. He made clear,
however, that the spiritual war against an alien faith was separate,
to be waged through prayer and repentance and not by bloodshed.
In 1542,
Luther read a Latin translation of the Qur'an He went on to produce
several critical pamphlets on Islam, which he called "Mohammedanism"
or "the Turk". Though Luther saw the Muslim faith as a tool
of the devil, he was indifferent to its practice: "Let the Turk
believe and live as he will, just as one lets the papacy and other
false Christians live." He also opposed banning the publication
of the Qur'an, wanting it exposed to scrutiny instead.
Martin Luther died on 18 February 1546
(aged 62) of a stroke in Eisleben, Saxony, the present Germany.
The Catholics are still around, and so
is the Pope, but they have lost most of the iron grip they once held
over Governments and peoples lives back in the 16th
century. thanks to revolutionary theologians like Martin Luther, and
other Protestant Christians.
The Catholic Church. which during the
past ten years has been losing members in large numbers recently
elected a more “PR” oriented Pope at the helm of their Church.
And it must be said that since coming
to power Pope Francis has been doing his best to project a more
friendly and benevolent face of the Vatican.
Unfortunately, regardless of all the
crowd pleasing statements made by Pope Francis, the Catholic church
still remains a closed secret cult, with little transparency and
continued global aspirations of power.
D) Concluding, however, one
should be optimistic and note that despite the increased violence and
unrest around the world - with “fanaticism, religious tensions,
terrorism, extremism, corporate greed” - being the headlines of the
day, something very positive is happening. One can only call this
“united people spiritual power ”. Yes indeed a people's
revolution is in the making.
People are not accepting everything and
anything they are told at face value anymore, be it from Government,
religious leaders, political leaders, pundits, the press. Instead,
they are relying on one of our greatest human assets, the inner
spiritual soul, which tells us what is right and wrong, and acting on
this accordingly, without fear of reprisals.
We can see this movement slowly taking
hold at demonstrations around the world. Specially following horrific
events involving accidents, acts of terrorism. political and economic
unrest and natural calamities.
People, no matter what their color,
creed or faith, are coming together as one in expressing grief and
best of all solidarity.
Yes indeed behind every cloud there is
a silver lining and the best is still to come.
